Bathtub and method of producing the same



Dec. 12, 1950 C J, RODMAN 2,534,146

BATHTUB AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed March 19, 1946 2Sheets-Sheet 1 -3 MFM W Dec. 12, 1950 c. J. RODMAN 2,534,146

BATHTUB AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed March 19, 1946 2Sheets-Sheet Z2 IN V EN TOR.

(lift/reef @0010 Patented Dec. 12, 1950 BATHTUB A NBZMETHOD PRODUCINGTHE SAME;

Clar nce 1- R m Allian b e; Application. March 1a, 1946; SepiaLNe.655,515 7. a ms-1 (Cu 7 3,)

IIhe present intention nelatesto anew and im-: prayed! type ofbathtuband, to the method of produeing, the; same.

tubto fi the presentintientioni is drawn from asingl 'z ie eQ eets eelItte era W W pletely drawn, ina, single; stroke of the, press. he: cause'this redufifis. to aminimurn, the thinning 0i the metail, This. is. imortantbecause in the h e Pent-s amel ne of e uham mt sa s d sired-t Thewas q s n that hene are no flat surfaces thebe l l; all of; thesui facesein ca cers qu waiidly s t at when a ed and" co e uring h enamel na.the; be x- Bands m c atlia t e u a lm "the ub s de ed; 7 1 use r pr sthew ly he. nont q, ab ill, be e osedh s 'r ntis o ifilfqiw m. arennthe: a tw e nr is hav be n, waited. .9: ef o d e Q iim t b t bea ne esary #9 t m ce meta fr m h ere: t r duc a Plea in enjpearar ce; Inproducing the tub of this: invention; the front rim is bentdoyyn andback, and the apron isweldedj to the rim from underrieath be forethisbendihg of -the rim is completed; After Welding, the isbe tto hidethe weld from view. Cbnsequentiy, trimming is unnecessary;

Theftont rim is bent'irrsuch a way that there is: no horizontal surfaceiii the rixjn in front of the belt or bowI of the tub. The edge of thebell bends gradually outward to; a straight" line which extends acrossthe front of the tub, and from this high line the rim is bent downwardlyand then? back toward theuniorr withtheaprona The bent r protrudes: alittle front ofithe apron" and? thus provides: a grahrail fora hatherto-usei 3 with the apron whemthe tub isviewed from any? 7 ordinatsyangle;

The weld; between the apron and the: rim of the tub is: advantageouslyformed? by welding; with am am: at. the interface: between the: apron;and! the: rim of; theatub; This minimizes-deformatiom or? drawing: of?the: welded parts without sub- Sta/111119111 distortion of the agront,

2?- Eig. 6=shows the front rim trimmedand-fiarrgem 7: showsthe apronwelded to this; flange;

Eigx illustratestthe-preferred method-biweld;

ingt; and

Fig, 9 is a: perspective view; of the completed tub;

Thebathtub; is drawn from a single sheet of: steel and comprises thebell; I the rim 2i,ar1d the flange or lip which prevents. seepagebetween the edge at; the rim and the. adjoining wallsfot the-bathe'oomhThe apron; 5 is welded to the time mi to eain wh t fell ws, Angle braeesE; are providedat, each. end of the tuie 'IFheseareweldedl to theinterned end flanges ofithe apron ar d tothe underside at the The;method of manufacturing the tlib, is hest ili strated by teieren ce tFigSIQ-Q, Fig, 431111 tragtes. simply the sheet oi?- steel from which.the. wig; is d zav n. Theifiiis toperationr is to draw the,

steel. is then; trimmed mm the front rim of, the

tiib whichwis then turned down at 61 as show i i Fig. 6

In the past it; has been customary. to unite the apren tothefrontrim ofthe tub by somemethod,

which formsa; weldacross the face of the tuio i hg and-expensive.operation which is entirely, inatediwhen. a tubiis made. according tothe plj else, oi this invention 'I-he apron is flanged}. according? tothe. process of this. i ver tio the tort flange i: 0;" the apron is.welded to the fror t im ofthe tub before the bending; of. the. rim.completed. Asshowh in Fig. 6,, accordipg t9 the prefir'edmethod, aiterdrawing, the front rim is triedifned and flanged at 6, Figs. 7' and;

show how, the edgeof the flange '1 oil'the aprioh, is made to coincidewith the edge. oi the flange if on the tub and the two are Welded tbgether p ei 'ed recess o e din lu a ed n B the are prod eed betweenthecarbor electrede- 9,. and the. tub is used, to weld. the edges! at the mm at their interface tQ fonr the welfd, i It is hot necessary to'add.any metal lftomvthe electrode to form the weld The edges oi theflarigesfareconverted to a fused mass which on cooling forms the Weld II over the ihterfabe.

Afiter welding the bending of the front rim is c mpieted, so as, to:bring the apron down Oren the trout oi th tub as shown in Fig, 9,. 'Ljheweld tl: is-I thuszbroughtrto the rear of; the aprolt and the motr di gportion. of the rim so that it is,ce cealedifriomviewv The following-ropetatiox si belie l intethetub asshowninFigb, TheieXcess,

This tniir ming undressing is a time-co V are also preferably completedas a part of the same operation: The remaining three sides of the rimare trimmed, notches are cut in the back corners of the rim to permitthe flange or lip 4 to be bent up, and this flange is then bent andwelded at the corners l2 and [3 where the notches were formed. Theoverflow I5 is then cut in one end of the bell, and the area i6surrounding the overflow is countersunk. The drain opening H is cut intothe bottom of the bell, and the area l8 surrounding it is countersunk.

The front rim is bent in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3. There is nohorizontal ledge at the front edge of the tub. The top portion of thebell 2E! gradually aproaches the high line 2!, and then the angularportion 22 of the rim is bent downward at an angle of about to Belowthis is the vertical portion 23. The flange 8 extends horizontallybackward from this so that the apron is vertical. By having the bell 2!)approach the high line 2! and eliminating any horizontal portion infront of the bell, maximum drainage back into the tub is provided, andbuckling of the tub during enameling is prevented.

By making the flange 8 wider than the upper flange l on the apron, agrab rail is formed, and. the front of the union between the rim and theapron is obscured from ordinary view.

After the structural operations have been completed, the tub isenameled. The enameling comprises the application of a ground coatfollowed by a cover coat and the customary firing. The bell is designedwithout any flat surfaces. This prevents distortion during the expansionand contraction incident to firing and cooling. Accord- 1 ing to apreferred method of enameling, only the ground coat is sprayed into therecess at the front of the tub between the horizontal flange 8 of thegrab rail and the top flange of the apron. This prevents rusting. Nocover coat is applied in the recess. This prevents chipping of theenamel which would be apt to occur in such a recess.

In installing the tub, the weight is supported by the apron which restson the bottom flange 39 and the stringer 3| which is fastened to thestudding. The apron may be suitably embossed or otherwise treated todampen vibration.

The finished tub is strong and attractive in appearance. It is designedto fit into a recess of standard length so that only the front isexposed to view. By concealing the weld between the apron and the tub,the cost of trimming the weld necessary with all prior constructions ofthis general type is eliminated entirely. The tub is,

therefore, relatively inexpensive, and the cheapness of design does notdetract from the appearance, strength or serviceability of the finishedarticle. Modifications in the structure may be made without departingfrom the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A bathtub formed from sheet steel with an apron welded to at least aportion of the front rim thereof, the union of the apron being to anunderturned horizontal portion of the rim and being set back from thefront edge of the underturned horizontal portion so that the latterprotrudesin front of the apron to serve as a grab rail.

2. A steel bathtub with at least a portion of the rim turned down andback, an apron below the downturned rim which screens off what is inback of it, the apron being provided at the top with a rearwardlyprojecting flange, the back edge of the flange andthe back edge of theback- 4 turned portion of the rim substantially coinciding and beingwelded at the interface of the coinciding edges.

3. A porcelained steel bathtub with at least a portion of the rimthereof bent down and back, a steel apron below said portion with aninwardly extending flange at the top thereof, the flange being welded tothe backwardly bent portion of the rim with the steel surfaces of thefiangeand rim in face-to-face contact, the recess at the outside of saidunion of the rim and flange being 'protected with ground coat on whichthere is substantially no cover coat.

4. A porcelained steel bathtub with the front rim turned down and underto form a substantially horizontal portion bent back toward the bell ofthe tub, a steel apron with a top flange thereon bent back toward thebell of the tub, the

flang being narrower than the substantially horizontal portion of therim, the back edge of but with substantially no enamel cover coat on.

said ground coat in said recess.

5. The method of manufacturing a bathtub which comprises drawing thebell in a single sheet of steel to produce a tub with a rim, trimmingthe front edge of the drawn sheet to form a straight edge substantiallyparallel with the center line of the tub and bending downwardly a narrowflange at the edge thereof, uniting to the flange an apron with a topflange which is narrower than the flange on the tub and which is bentbackward from the face of the apron by bringing the flanges togetherwith the edges thereof substantially coinciding and welding the edges atthe interface, and then further bending the rim so that the flange onthe tub extends backwardly, thereby bringing the apron to asubstantially vertical position so that the apron and bent rim concealthe weld and the bell of the tub, and the front part of the backwardlyextending portion of the rim protrudes forwardly from the apron to serveas a grab rail.

6. The method of manufacturing a bathtub which comprises drawing thebell in a single sheet of steel to produce a tub with a rim, bendingdownwardly a narrow flange at the edge of the rim, uniting to the flangean apron with a top flange bent backward from the face of the apron bywelding the flanges together, and then further bending the rim so thatthe flange on the of steel to produce a tub with a narrow rim, trim- V 5bonds them together, and then further bending Number the rim so that theflanges extend backwardly, 2,087,183 thereby bringing the apron to asubstantially 2,122,247 vertical position. 2,199,791 CLARENCE J. RODMAN.6 2,302,563 2,305,846 REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord in the Number file of this patent. m 52522 UNITED STATES PATENTSNumber Name Date 1,870,836 Cromwell Aug. 9, 1932 Name Date Davock July13, 1937 Coordes June 28, 1938 Gwynn May 7, 1940 Masters Nov. 17, 1942Coordes Dec. 22, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Denmark 1- Jan. 4,1937

